TORONTO – In a thrilling quarterfinal match, the top contender in Toronto’s Rogers Cup actually looked human.
Roger Federer managed to squeak past Xavier Malisse in three sets (7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-3), but the Belgian made him work for every point as the game.
The crowd was clearly on the side of the Belgian underdog, and after the match, Malisse said that there wasn’t much that he would change about the way that he played.
“I made a couple mistakes sometimes,” he said. “But, you know, you got to attack. You got to accept those mistakes. If you’re going to play with him, you’re going to rally all day.”
Malisse came up with a Herculean effort, taking the match to two tie-breaks and winning the second to force the deciding third set. He didn’t seem phased by Federer’s unbeatable persona.
“First set you kind of just play your game and see what happens,” he said. “I mean, there’s that belief, but then also not belief because you’re playing Roger. It kind of goes back and forth.”
This is the second match in a row where Federer has been taken to a third set and the Swiss player said that he only had a brief moment of doubt about winning the match.
“First set, I think when he was breakpoint up at five-all, I think this is really when I thought, okay, this could be a tough match now, all of a sudden after being up a break and anything,” he said.
After he won the first set tiebreaker, Federer said that any moments of hesitation quickly eclipsed.
“Really after that I was never really in doubt too much.”
Weather was also a factor in the match, with the cooler temperatures in Toronto resulting in a breeze onto the court. Federer explained how tough it was to play against the wind.
“But I think really the cooler weather and everything, that was a challenge,” he said. “It was hard to hit winners. It was hard to get service winners and aces and so forth. You really had to work hard.”
While Federer did not seem to be in typical form for the first two sets, he neatly polished Malisse off in the final set.
Even Malisse admitted how strong his Swiss opponent was.
“It’s possible you can beat him. But, you know, to beat him, you have to be at a hundred percent the whole match. You can’t slack one game or he’s on top of you.”
Federer moves on, to join other quarterfinal winners Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet and will face Fernando Gonzalez in the next round. He said that he is up for the challenge.
“I guess, you know, when they come that far, everybody’s a dangerous opponent. You know, maybe they’re not top five players or anything, but they definitely have the potential to make upsets, so I have to be very careful.”
